HAWX Hands-On

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We kick on our afterburners and fly into a massive dogfight with Ubisoft's newest Tom Clancy property.

By Hilary Goldstein

For years, Namco Bandai has owned the console skies with its Ace Combat series. Finally, a worthy challenger has appeared and put Ace combat in its sites. Ubisoft's latest Tom Clancy title, HAWX (High-Altitude Warfare Experimental Squadron) is a welcome blending of simulation and arcade fun. With a whopping 50 licensed planes and the use of real satellite data, HAWX certainly brings with it the authenticity we've come to expect from a Tom Clancy game.

Coming this September to PC, PS3 and Xbox 360, HAWX offers up intense -- and often deadly -- dogfights and a true challenge for those wishing to prove themselves to be Top Gun material. Using GOI satellite data, Ubisoft is able to ensure the areas you fly over are the real deal. When we took to the skies to battle an onslaught of MIGs in Rio De Janeiro, the entire topography was exact to the real life locale. And yes, even the famed statue of Jesus was standing, arms outstretched, at the mountain top. And no, we did not try and shoot it down. Ubisoft describes the use of GOI data as "flying over Google Earth on crack." We're inclined to agree.

We played our first HAWX mission using a standard controller. For 360 owners, the Ace Combat flight stick will work with HAWX and most standard PC flight sticks should be compatible for those who own a computer. If you don't have a flight stick yet, don't worry. Ubisoft is working to release a proprietary stick for PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 in time for HAWX's launch.

If you've grown used to Ace Combat or any other flight sim, jumping into HAWX takes a bit of an adjustment. The biggest departure from other flight combat games is the use of pilot assistance. With the assistance on, the computer in your plane will place some limitations on your movements to prevent you from stalling. It also allows you to use some additional technology -- the most useful being the ERS system, which we'll get into in a moment. The camera with assistance on follows close behind your plane giving you a perfect perspective for targeting enemies.

Yes, the game really looks this good.

With assistance off, the camera pulls far back giving you a broader view of the sky and your plane. Your combat vehicle becomes quite small on screen. With assistance off, you have no safety locks on your plane whatsoever. This means that you have no limitations to movements -- and no anti-stall countermeasures. The only way to pull off great aerial feats is with assistance off. You can hit the brakes, pull up hard to almost stall out, then as your plane starts to rotate over, accelerate to pull off a very sharp loop-the-loop. This type of maneuver is perfect for dodging incoming missiles or for turning the advantage on an enemy that's tailing you. It's also the best way to save your ass if you are about to crash into the ground or a mountain. You just can't turn as sharply with assistance on.

Don't think of assistance on/off as difficulty settings. You will use these two modes interchangeably throughout each mission. With a double-tap of the brakes, you turn assistance off and with a double-tap of the thrusters you turn it back on. It's a quick and easy transition and one that we got used to very quickly. Though you lose the great view of your plane when the assistance is off, we found it far easier to maneuver in this mode. Plus, you get to pull off some swank tricks -- and can enjoy the thrill of trying to pull out of a stall moments before slamming into the ocean.

With assistance on, you have the use of the very helpful ERS system. If you target an enemy, you can tap the ERS button and an intercept path will illuminate. Follow the path and you will connect with your target. This can also be used to get out of the way of trailing missiles, but isn't as effective as just turning off assistance and then doing a sly maneuver to lose the heat on your ass. We should mention that as a final safety measure, you can drop one of a limited number of flares to guide the heat-seeker away from your plane.